Germans Condemn Police Use of Spyware
By NICHOLAS KULISH
NYT
BERLIN — A group that calls itself the Chaos Computer Club prompted a public outcry here recently when it discovered that German state investigators were using spying software capable of turning a computer’s webcam and microphone into a sophisticated surveillance device.
The club, a German hacking organization, announced last Saturday it had analyzed the hard drives of people who had been investigated and discovered that they were infected with a Trojan horse program that gave the police the ability to log keystrokes, capture screenshots and activate cameras and microphones. The software exceeded the powers prescribed to the police by Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court.
The public condemnation was swift and strong, renewing a national debate into how far the government can intrude into digital privacy. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a major newspaper, called the revelation a “worst-case scenario for data security.” Germany’s justice minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, demanded an inquiry into the matter, saying that citizens “must be protected from snooping with strict state control mechanisms.”
Peter Schaar, the federal commissioner for data protection, called for Parliament to enact legislation to put an end to the “gray area” between lawful and unlawful searches and surveillance on computers.
(More here.)
NYT
BERLIN — A group that calls itself the Chaos Computer Club prompted a public outcry here recently when it discovered that German state investigators were using spying software capable of turning a computer’s webcam and microphone into a sophisticated surveillance device.
The club, a German hacking organization, announced last Saturday it had analyzed the hard drives of people who had been investigated and discovered that they were infected with a Trojan horse program that gave the police the ability to log keystrokes, capture screenshots and activate cameras and microphones. The software exceeded the powers prescribed to the police by Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court.
The public condemnation was swift and strong, renewing a national debate into how far the government can intrude into digital privacy. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a major newspaper, called the revelation a “worst-case scenario for data security.” Germany’s justice minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, demanded an inquiry into the matter, saying that citizens “must be protected from snooping with strict state control mechanisms.”
Peter Schaar, the federal commissioner for data protection, called for Parliament to enact legislation to put an end to the “gray area” between lawful and unlawful searches and surveillance on computers.
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home